"Success" as our culture defines it is so different from the "success" that the Bible teaches. The world doesn't really care if your children don't love God; that's "okay" as long as you live in a nice house, wear the latest styles, and drive a nice vehicle... A wife who stays at home... knows that a healthy marriage and an orderly home are worth far more than expensive furniture, entertainment, or luxuries.

...Add up the costs of working outside the home, and you may find that you're working 40+ hours each week and earning just a dollar or two an hour by doing so.

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We used some of our leftover steaks to make some easy beef pepper steak over rice. This is my mom's pepper steak recipe, and I think it's really good! We even had a couple of tomatoes from the garden to put in it! The pepper steak gravy with this recipe is dark and tasty. This time of year, we start getting lots of bell peppers from the garden, and pepper steak is a great use for them!

My New Teapot

As if sending me a doctor's office grandma wasn't enough, YHWH decided to surprise me yesterday with the tea pot pictured here. Wow!

In my post about going to Amish Country, I told about going to a store where "I even found a really nice stainless steel teapot, just the size I want, which I will someday go back and purchase. :D"

Good thing I wisely decided we just couldn't afford it, and didn't purchase it, because just 4 days later, my mom found this tea pot at a thrift store and bought it for me! Read more, about why this tea pot is so special!

Joshua made the most delicious grilled steak EVER when his Grandma was here. She bought T-Bones -- four HUGE ones from Aldi's -- and Joshua cooked them for us. They were so tender and just wonderful. We had some leftover meat, enough to make two other meals for Joshua and me. For now, here's the grilled t-bone steak recipe. (I'll be posting the other recipes later this week!)

Yehoshua went to the doctor's today for a follow-up appointment, and everything looked great. Praise YHWH! I went by myself, with both children along. That is something I rarely do. I am spoiled by Joshua going grocery shopping and helping me when we have to go places. Today, I knew it was just going to be a quick appointment, and I really wanted Joshua to be able to stay at home and work in a nice quiet house rather than having to help take Yehoshua to the doctor's. So, I tucked my mei tai carrier into the diaper bag and we set off. :D

The mei tai was almost like having a second set of hands, and I continue to find more and more times when I just have to use it!! Yehoshua and Eliyahu both did well, and YHWH must have known I was concerned about a long wait in the doctor's, because He sent someone to help. (Read more, including a photo of Eliyahu from yesterday...)

So often, as I am caring for Yehoshua or Eliyahu, I marvel at how blessed we are by our children. They are so, so precious, and I just don't know where the last 2 years has gone... how could I be the mother of a 2-year-old, and how could my baby be 6 months old already?! I want to cherish every moment I have with them, whether it's nursing Eliyahu, playing a game with Yehoshua, making Eliyahu giggle, having a "conversation" with Yehoshua (who is just starting to talk!), or getting some sweet spontaneous kisses and hugs... (read more for a cute photo I caught)