Service Tree

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As the years have gone by I have become increasingly disillusioned with Christmas.  Don’t get me wrong, I love the idea of Christmas, a day set aside to commemorate the birth of Jesus Christ, our Savior and Redeemer.  I also love the idea of commemorating his birth by giving gifts to those we love, because Christ gave us many gifts, the greatest being eternal life.  It seems to me (and I am talking in general here, not about a specific person) that increasingly we are giving lip service to the idea of gift giving and caring for the poor on Christmas and we are focusing more and more on GETTING.  My family is no exception.  I find that my children talk more of gifts and Santa and what they want from Santa than Christ and His birth and His gifts.  I blame myself, I have created this, I love having an excuse to be extravagant in my gift giving (via Santa) with my children.  I over the years have focused on the gifts more than true service and Christ centered worship.

Last Christmas, instead of the kids giving gifts to each other we had service ornaments.  Each child drew a name and for the month of December they were to do service for the person they drew and add a special ornament to the tree every time a service was preformed.  It went ok, especially for the first few days, they it kind of petered out and was forgotten.

So this year I thought I would mix it up a little. 

We now have a service tree. 

 

(this is a terrible picture, the lighting in my living room is not good)

 

On slips of paper I wrote down the name of a person, or a type of person (example: teacher, neighbor, friend) and put them all in an envelope.  Every morning at devotional we draw a slip and for that day we all do a service for that particular person.  I am thinking this will help us stay focused and do more service.  Once that service had been done, and approved by a parent, an ornament is added to the tree.

I hope this helps my children become more service oriented.

As for how we celebrate Christmas, I think things are going to change around here in the next few years.  I would like Christmas to become a Holy day of worship.  First to go just might be Santa, I wonder why I need some stand in mythical man to give my children gifts?  I know a lot of people say he (Santa) represents Christ, to that I ask: why do we need some stand in mythical man for Christ when we have the real thing?

 

How to you center your family on Christ during the Christmas season?

Family Logistics, When Life is Crazy

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The month of November was c.r.a.z.y.  Between Dadzoo being gone for 10 days, to sick kids, Thanksgiving and a family vacation there was not one week that was even close to normal.  So how do you keep to a schedule when the weeks doesn’t go as planned?  (For my weekly schedule, go HERE).  Here is what I found, having a weekly schedule made handling the difference easier.  Yes, easier!  For example, the week of Thanksgiving I knew what household chores needed to be done that week, I knew I had to get it all done by Wednesday, so I could plan to double up.  On Monday I baked and worked on laundry, Tuesday I finished the laundry and did my office day, Wednesday we cleaned the house, which freed up Thursday so I could pack and have Thanksgiving dinner with Dadzoo’s parents, we left for vacation early Friday morning.  I was amazed at how easily I was able to move things around and still get everything done.

 

The "Zoo" at Mt. Rushmore

December, strangely enough, looks to be a bit calmer.  Now if I can get my Christmas lists organised and finished…..

Babies, Babies, Babies

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The month of October was a big baby month for my family, both my sisters gave birth to bouncing baby boys!  With their births it made 15 grandchildren for my parents. 

 We are so blessed.

The three newest little ones, all born within three months, wearing winter hats made by Grandma.

Over the Thanksgiving weekend we, along with most of my family (missing one brother and his wife) took a trip to South Dakota to see my sister, her family and the newest little one.  We had such a good time, there were 25 people at my sisters house, it was loud and messy (there were 15 kids there!) and so much fun.  We enjoyed being able to spend time with family that lives so far away.

The youngest of the bunch, in his blessing outfit, we were so happy that we were able to be there for his blessing.

Chicken Broth Part II

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 Chicken Broth Part I is
HERE

At this point we have already cooked the chicken with vegetables and seasonings.  The chicken has been removed and the meat stripped from the bones, and the bones and skin put back into the pot.  Put the pot back onto the stove and slowly simmer for 48 to 72 hours, adding water when needed.

 

 

 

 

 

After 48 to 72 hours the bones and skin will have reduced considerably.  I empty the pot, through a fine strainer, into a large pitcher.  I like to press out any liquid remaining in the chicken parts.  The bones are soft and will crush when you put pressure on them, this is good thing, when the bones go soft you know that the minerals have leached out of them and into your broth, making the broth packed full of nutrients.

Once you have drained the liquid out of the chicken mush and strained the water, place the pitcher into the refrigerator to cool completely.  This allowes the fat to rise to the top and solidify so it is easier to remove.  We do want some fat in our broth, but not as much as is produced. 

After a few hours you can see the fat as risen and solidified.  Also the broth itself will thicken (depending on the chicken) sometimes the broth will be so solid you can cut it, other times the broth just seems a little thicker.  The is gelatin that has come from the bones gelatin is very good for you, a very digestible form of protein.  Skim all the fat off the top.  If the fat is cold it is very easy to skim, it just breaks off in big lumps.  This fat can be saved for cooking if you would like, potatoes are really good fried in this fat.

Then pour the broth in to individual containers, in amounts that suit you.  I like to use small, plastic, containers that hold two cups of broth.  Then I add a little lup of fat into each container.  Don’t be afraid of good fats, we need them to adsorb certain vitamins.   

The broth is then stored in the freezer.

Isn’t it such a beautiful dark brown color, this broth is rich, full of flavor and packed full of nutrients.  It can be added to any recipe that calls for broth, bouillon cubes (which are just chemicals and not good for you) or just water for an added punch of flavor.  Try cooking rice in broth for a wonderful flavor and added nutritional value.  Broth is also good for the sick, whose bodies need the nourishment, but also need something easy to digest.