Tag Archives: growing up

Homemade Rice-a-Roni

28 Jul Homemade Rice-a-Roni

One of the things that my family collectively loves is my homemade Rice-a-Roni.  Besides being ridiculously yummy, it is also a simple and inexpensive recipe.  As a side dish, this recipe feeds us all with leftovers….hallelujah for that!  Keep reading for the video and printable recipe.

What things do you make homemade that you can find pre-made at the store?  I would love some fresh inspiration!

Homemade Rice-a-Roni

These basic and inexpensive ingredients is all you need to make Homemade Rice-a-Roni.

Homemade Rice-a-Roni

A few simple steps to light, flavorful, fluffy rice goodness!

 

 

Click here to watch the video

Click here for the printable recipe.

 

Thanks for visiting!

Be Blessed and be a Blessing,

Rebecca

 

 

 

 

Copyright © 2016 · All Rights Reserved · www.andasprinkleoflove.com

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Huge Aldi Grocery Haul 5-25-2016

1 Jun

Two to three times a year I like to “shop” my pantry, freezer, and fridge.  I like to use up what we have.  I find that I waste a lot less food doing this.  I love that it gets me to be more creative in the kitchen and it makes it easier to clean the fridge and pantry J I’m all about that…BTW, I just read an article that said homemakers in the 50’s did over 50 hours of housework a week…..phew…..I am so grateful for modern conveniences!

I love watching and seeing what others are shopping for so I thought I would once again share my Aldi grocery haul.

I share that I like to use coconut oil as a moisturizer but am pretty clueless on how to cook with it!  I would love to see how you use it. Please leave a link or recipe in the comments…I would LOVE to check it out!

You can view my Aldi Grocery Haul here.

Thanks for visiting!

~Be Blessed and be a Blessing~

Rebecca

Photo credit: Aldi and Google Images

 

 

Copyright © 2016 · All Rights Reserved · www.andasprinkleoflove.com

Lest we Forget

28 May

I am so grateful for the brave men and women who headed the call and left what was familiar and comfortable for a life of upheaval and uncertainty. Today I pause with reflective prayer to honor those who gave their all…the fallen brave who courageously breathed their last breath defending the country and the people they so loved.

To the families who gather around a grave rather than a grill-my prayer is that our Heavenly Father will fill them with grace, peace, and healing. That they would find comfort in each other and that the sweet memories of their loved ones will sustain them until they are reunited in Heaven. Thank you, for your great sacrifice also!

 

As you enjoy your 3 day weekend please remember and pray for all the brave men and women in our military. Pray for the mothers and fathers who will never hold their precious boys and girls in their arms again, for the wives and husbands who will never get to live out the hopes and dreams they planned together, and for the precious children who will never feel the tickle of daddy’s whiskers on their cheek or the soft embrace of their mother’s arms again. The burden is too great to let this weekend go by without a heartfelt sense of gratitude for the meaning behind our three day weekend.

 

~Be Blessed and be a Blessing~

Rebecca

 

Photo credit: Google Images

 

 

Copyright © 2016 · All Rights Reserved · www.andasprinkleoflove.com

The Twilight of Childhood

4 Jun Twilight of Childhood

She wakes with an infectious smile that seems to chase away any lingering gloominess from my soul.  She rests her head with ease  in that little crook of my shoulder that always seems to fit no matter how she grows.  She reminds me what goodness, and loveliness, and kindness feels like and she freely shares it with anyone fortunate enough to cross her path.  She dreams of filling shelves at the book store with her writings and filling the stage with songs about her greatest love….Jesus.

Even though the twilight of her childhood is setting in she still clings to girlhood fiercely. She isn’t quite ready to let it go and I’m not quite ready to let her go. So for a moment I will relish in my little girl and all her little girl ways and I will keep loving her well. For these last few moments, I will be near, holding her hand as she dips her toes into adolescence, so when the sun sets for the last time on her childhood she will be ready to let go of me and pursue her own life with confidence. grace, tenderness, and passion. I pray that these gifts will be accepted well and would bring healing to a wounded world and hope to wounded souls.

But for now, I will enjoy her sleepy head on my shoulder with messy curls tickling my cheek. In a moment it will be over. Tonight she will say goodbye to ten and welcome eleven with great expectation…..just as she should.

~Be Blessed and be a Blessing~

Rebecca

You can find me on Pinterest and YouTube!

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A Letter to my Daughter…

13 Oct

The world will tell you that beauty can be found in a certain bra size or certain jean size but the truth is is that beauty is found in your heart size.  Let me be honest, you will be judged on these and so much more and it will sting.  The enemy uses those weak spots, those areas we are most conscious about to wiggle his way in and whisper destruction to your soul. Don’t be fooled or transformed by the vainness of the world but rather inspire true beauty even when it is hard or ignored or mocked.

Women, in particular, are digging themselves into pits so vast that they can’t find their way out. Their struggle to conform is killing them.  Maybe not always physically but emotionally. Searching for that one magic thing that will all of a sudden transform their lives from mediocre to magnificent.

It’s amazing the depths we will go for vanity or pleasure and how shallow our efforts are toward the Lord.  Proverbs 31:30 reminds women that our physical beauty will fail us all eventually.

We are so busy chasing someone else’s best 10 seconds that we lose sight on how terrific our life can be. Until we center our focus on the Creator and let Him lead us through the beautiful mess of life we will never find the magnificent we are looking for-it doesn’t exist apart from the Lord!

When you start to see yourself and your life through the eyes of our Creator you will be transformed by the marvelous creation you are.  It is then that you will truly see and understand your gifts, talents, and the greater purpose of your life.  Matthew 10:39  reminds us that if we are only concerned about finding ourselves first you will never will but if you pursue the Lord first you will find both Him and you.  So pursue the Lord with eagerness and expectation!

Fill those cracks and gaps in your armor with the life giving words of God and focus your efforts on becoming who He says you are!  Surround yourself with people who will encourage you and hold you accountable.  God never intended us to make this journey alone.  Female friendships in the media are always portrayed as conniving, selfish and, jealous.  Women using and abusing each other in hopes of gaining power and popularity.  Don’t buy into the lie.  Sisterhood, when Christ centered, can be one of the biggest blessings of life.

It’s not always easy but with that foundation of Christ in place whatever the stumble, you have that compass always pointing you back to the arms of the one who makes everything beautiful….even the broken and messy.

 

~Be Blessed and be a Blessing~

Rebecca

 

You can find me on Pinterest

 

“Image courtesy of [Stuart Miles] / FreeDigitalPhotos.net”.

Copyright © 2014 · All Rights Reserved · www.andasprinkleoflove.com

My Girl

4 Jun

On the verge of adolescents and all the things big girls like. Each year I thank God for another year and ask for just one more summer of playing barefoot in the grass, dandelion bouquets, girly shrieks as she runs and leaps through the sprinklers, watching a too big ice cream cone melt down her hand , pink bikes with glittery streamers blowing as she races her brother down the street, the first hints of summer sprinkled across her nose. The easiness of her laugh, the little hand that still finds it way into mine, and the angelic voice that drifts from the shower.  The emergence of the missing printer paper that has been transformed into brilliant illustrated stories, the way she sits next to me on the couch with a tight hug around my arm and soft curls on my shoulder, and bare feet and nightgown at the breakfast table. The way I admire her heart for serving and her heart for the hurting and her love for Jesus.

I thank God for her innocence and that she has this precious time to be little even if it is for just a bit longer. I know that my bargaining for another summer is quickly coming to an end…. but not this summer. I will love her even bigger and cherish all her little girlness be it just a moment longer. My prayer is that she will continue to grow in beauty and grace and that when she can no longer be little she can continue to love life with just as much enthusiasm and joy.

What a gift she is to me and to the world. I am a blessed mama who kissed her 9 year old goodnight and will wake to a beautiful 10 year old!

 

~Be Blessed and be a Blessing~

Rebecca

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Copyright © 2014 · All Rights Reserved · www.andasprinkleoflove.com

Reflections

28 Sep

I am coming up on a big milestone in my life.  My oldest daughter is getting ready to turn 18.  I became her mama under the most unfortunate of circumstances.  I was a young, unwed, teenage girl with no money and honestly no clue.  What makes the story a little more complicated is that she was born not well.  I was only 24 weeks pregnant when she made her very small and very quiet way into the world.  I think we can all agree that even under the best circumstances having a baby is hard and having a sick baby is super hard.

The past several months has had me being very reflective.  Looking back on that hard first year and the subsequent years that were still a little hard but mostly joyful.  I keep thinking on all the things I should of done and the things I could of done better. I look at her now, a senior in high school, enjoying a life much different than my own.

I was the youngest in a blended family of five, actually I was a big oops!  My older siblings really gave my parents a run for their money.  It seemed one big problem kept overlapping the next.  I was often told to go play and probably unintentionally overlooked because I wasn’t causing any problems.  Fast forward to the really formative years of my life and I was still alone.  I was left to navigate these years with only destructive bahavior patterns leftover from my now grown but still incapable siblings.  It was now my legacy and I didn’t disappoint.  The only difference is that being left alone for so long, I was good at hiding in the shadows, therfore, I was able to avoid real trouble.

I really missed out on healthy behaviors being modeled for me.  When I became a mama, I ferociosly loved my baby girl with all that I had. I didn’t know what being a good parent looked like but I knew that I wanted to be one.  The first years were trial and error.  What I really lacked and really craved for was a woman who I could look up to and someone who could encourage me.  Self pity is an expesive trip to take and I certainly maxed out.  A time came where at a cross road I had to decide once and for all the path I would take.  Since I didn’t have the people I needed I could become the type of person I needed.  I love that even though I didn’t know God, He still had His hand on me.

Thus, the journey began. So here, 18 years later, I reflect on the journey and all that I’ve learned. That the brokenness of your past does not have to be the legacy of your future.  It is never too late to keep trying again.  That with God nothing is truly broken, that all the past wounds, heartaches, disappointments etc..are all God shaped.

So here we are.  I look over at the one who made me a mama and thank God for our journey this far.  She is learning to navigate this complicated world as a young woman with dreams and desires and she is trying to make a mark for herself despite the physical limitations of Cerebral Palsy.  She is walking with the one who loves her most and because of that she is OK and so am I.

~Be Blessed and be a Blessing~

Rebecca

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My 13th first Day of School

5 Sep

Well, we made it through another summer vacation.  We had a lazy uneventful but fun summer.  I’ll admit, I am very sad to see it end. I am gearing up for my 13th first day of school….YIKES!

I was sitting here thinking back 13 (that flew by) years ago, Labor Day.  My oldest, Alison, was a precious itty bitty five year old with pink glasses.  She was anxious for her first day of kindergarten-I was not! Tuesday came. Even though we could of slept in a bit (because she had the afternoon class), Alison was up early-ready to make it official. Sporting a new outfit, her name tag, and her new pink backpack, that was almost bigger than her-we headed out on a beautiful Colorado day, on our short walk to school.  The classroom was buzzing with excitement as the kiddos explored their classroom and made new friends.  The teacher gave parents a few minutes to take pictures and give extra hugs.  One by one parents started to trickle out until it was just me.  I was thinking “They expect me to leave this precious child who hasn’t left my side for more than 5 minutes for almost 6 years, here alone-without her mama?”.  I made up my mind right then, that she needed me too much to leave. I was gonna stay.  Of course, the kindly teacher assured me that she would be OK and that I would see her in a few hours.  I left that classroom and cried my heart out all the way home. Sad, because life as I knew it had changed forever and it changed so suddenly in just one day. No more leisurely afternoon Hundred Acre Wood picnics, no more late night blanket fort sleepovers, and no more little shadow all the time.  She was a big girl doing big girl things- without me!  Time passed slowly that first day.  Time eventually passed and I made my way to pick her up.  I remember thinking how upset she must of been all day and how glad she will be when she sees me.  I envisioned her plowing through the crowd and jumping into my open arms begging to never go back.  When she saw me she was in tears, but not for the reasons I thought…the girl didn’t want to leave school.  She really burst my bubble.  She had a blast-without me!  Here I was mourning and she was having the time of her life.  Life did change that day but certainly not for the worse.  We just moved into a different season of life and it was still wonderful. Even if she is a high school senior!

Brouke came along and I went through it all again.  Now I am sitting in the same place as I was 13 years ago except this time, my baby-my last born, my only son will be  starting his journey as a first grader.  Yes, I will cry and have a moment but I will look on with joy as I watch my boy learn and grow and I’ll be reminded how very blessed I am.

I know many are here with me.  My prayer for you is that God will be near to each of you as you kiss the sweet faces of your babies as you send them out into the world. May he comfort you as you adjust to a new season. For all our babies, may God watch over each of them as they begin a new school year.  I pray for safety and protection over each of them.  May God Bless each of you!

~Be Blessed and be a Blessing~
Rebecca

Copyright © 2013 · All Rights Reserved · www.andasprinkleoflove.com

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