Winnning Hand

Every week we get together and have Family Game Night.  K.C., Michael and the kids come over.  Sometimes Brian joins us.  We used to do this on Wednesday nights and then watch Duck Dynasty.  We have switched to Thursday nights now. Typically the adults play for a while then we call the kids in and everyone plays a kid-friendly game before calling it a night. 

We play anything from cards to board games. And anyone who knows us knows that we have a LOT of board games.  Gary's favorite is Pictionary but K.C. and I usually veto that one. A few weeks ago we pulled out the poker chips (of which I have a lot) and cards and started playing poker.  I'm not sure Brian had ever played before but he is catching on.  Last week we were not sure that Michael knew what two pair was.  

Typically, Gary has good winning hands and K.C. usually does very well at poker.  Tonight I threw them all a curve-ball and played seven card stud - Dr. Pepper.  (I know that some of you will know what this is).  After explaining that this meant tens, twos and fours were wild (they used to be on the old Dr. Pepper bottles - hence the name), we commenced to play.  

 Here we have Michael counting up some of his winnings.

And here we have K.C. dealing out what I hope to be a winning hand.

Pretty good hand and I bet pretty high on it.  Didn't win though.

 K.C. finally won a hand.

 Called the kids in to join us.  

Now tonight Michael was doing pretty good at poker and he said he wanted to see a blog about game night, maybe a poem.  So he gets both.  This is for you Michael

WINNING HAND

He thinks he’s a winner but don’t you know

The winnings tonight are only for show.

Every week we get together to play a game or two

And lately it’s poker with chips white red and blue

Dealer’s choice is the game and stakes keep mounting

But the chips you win you shouldn’t be counting.

Five card draw or seven card stud; King showing high

I look at my hand and give a big sigh.

Ante up each hand and try to keep track

Who bid what and how many cards kept back?

Was anything wild? One-eyed Jacks you say?

I’ll take two cards send them my way.

 Tonight Michael held winning hands

And his winnings were becoming quite grand.

Not always the case for him you see

And he wanted a blog post from me.

Written for: Michael

By: Kathie Marrs

Be Bold

Many of you know that we are part of a church plant.  We belong to Redemption Tulsa.  It's nice to know that 'you belong'.  You are a part of something, and Redemption Tulsa is a BIG something.  It's the chance to share God's word to those who may not know Him.  It's a chance to share what God has done for me and my family. It's a chance to help someone else know the joy and peace that I have through my relationship with God. 

Our goal is to be a church that relates to people. I know that's putting it simply but I am a simple person.  I don't have any theological training or anything.  I just have the knowledge that Christ died for me even though I didn't deserve it. I have the knowledge that I have eternal life because I have accepted Christ as my Savior. I have the knowledge that my God is a loving, caring, disciplining, thoughtful God.  He will be there for me if I seek Him (He is there for me even when I don't seek Him).  

We have prayer meeting on Wednesday evenings. During this time we pray that we would be fruitful and multiply.  This again is simplified and my pastor says it much better. But the bottom line is: we want to spread the word. We want to take it to our family, our neighbors, our friends, our co-workers, our town, to anyone we come in contact with. We want everyone to know what we know.  A recurring phrase I hear from my husband and my pastor is "be bold".   The definition of bold is: not hesitating or fearful in the face of actual or possible danger or rebuff; courageous and daring. It means we must overcome any fear we may have of speaking up and sharing with (gasp) strangers!  Or even with (bigger gasp) family!.  We have been commissioned to 'spread the word'. I hope that in some small way through my blog posts I spread the word to some who may not have other contact with God's word. 

Tonight I started thinking about the phrase 'be bold' and as oftentimes happens when I think of specific phrases, words or thoughts a poem wrote itself.  I want to share it here with you.  

BE BOLD

Be bold and spread the word

Let others know what you have heard.

Don’t be afraid what others might say

You might not have the chance another day.

No time to waste so don’t hesitate

Speak the word before it’s too late.

It’s an act of courage, you must be bold

Millions out there must be told.

Be bold and speak from your heart

For one person it might be a new start.

People will be put in your path today

So be bold and have your say.

You have been given a command

Spread the word throughout the land.

Don’t hold back just be bold

And tell the story that must be told.

Written by: Kathie Marrs

                      May 28, 2014

Just for Amusement

I've had a long four day weekend and have spent a lot of time doing nothing but amusing myself.  I was going to get my laundry all done on Friday but the drain backed up - had to call landlord who asked if I thought I had plugged it.  Seriously?? No, I think you came over and did something to plug it.  All I know is it worked yesterday, I did a load of laundry today - it didn't work.  We tried to snake it out without any success.  His next question?  Do you think I should call a plumber?  No let's call the air conditioner guy - I bet he can get a handle on the plumbing issues. Well, we did get it fixed on Saturday much to my surprise.

So I have spent my weekend spending time on Facebook and Pinterest, between cleaning house and doing laundry.  I have a system -- I work a little then get on the computer a little,  It works for me and that's all that matters.  The thing is, I have spent more time on Pinterest than I normally do.  It amuses me.  I find a lot of neat stuff on there and send a lot of neat stuff to my friends that I think they will enjoy.  I also find a lot of things that just amuse me.  I thought I would share some of the amusing things here with you.  

Yeah, this makes me laugh because I make myself laugh.  I hope that's a good thing I like to think it is because then I'm not dependent on anyone else for my happiness. 

This is just funny.  How many times have you heard someone ask this?  

Gary says I'm accident prone.  I think it kinda runs in the family - Lily has this issue also.  

This is funny because I can actually see someone asking this.  The only other option would be that you decided to take a nap on your back on the floor.  Or maybe you wanted to count the ceiling tiles.  

I include this one just because it made me laugh when I first read it.  

And we know that this works because it seems like you find that address once the radio is turned down,  

Now these are just a few of the things I found amusing this weekend.  It also helps explain why I spend time on Pinterest when I have time to myself.  I have a lot more but didn't want to overwhelm you in one post.  I'll do more of them another time.  



 
 

 

Taste Bud Extravaganza

It's Tuesday night, which means it was 'try something new for dinner night'.  I know you have been waiting all week just to find out what we were going to have tonight.  

Well, we started out with Polynesian Pulled Pork 

Oh my gosh!!  When Miss Annette brought this in and took the lid off the crockpot - the aroma was unbelievable!  We could not wait to try this.  We all agreed however, that although it was good - the flavor did not meet our aroma expectations.  Our taste buds did not get the treat they thought they were going to get.

We kept this meal simple.  Next up is potato salad.

No new recipe here -- just plain old potato salad made the 'right way' - my way. Mashed potatoes with mayo, mustard, hard boiled eggs, pickle relish and onions.  And make the sure the potatoes are well mashed.  None of those half mashed so we have some solid potato in there.  That is not real potato salad.

And for dessert, Gary tried another new recipe. 

Pot de cream.  This is a coffee flavored chocolate dessert.  Yes, Gary made this even though he doesn't like coffee just because he thought it looked good and easy.  And it was both of those - good and easy.  No baking required - only a blender, some chocolate chips, eggs, vanilla and coffee.  So rich I could not eat all of mine.  

The meal was simple to make; our taste buds had new experiences to savor, and we are planning our next new recipe menu.  Don't forget to check back in to see what's on the menu.  

 

What's For Dinner?

I've mentioned before that Gary and I changed churches over a year ago.  One of the hardest things was not having the connection with friends who are like family to us.  We try to keep in contact.  We have a weekly dinner date with two people who are very close to us.  Look forward to that.  I've also talked before about Gary's love of cooking.  He loves to cook and try new recipes.  I've also blogged before about Pinterest. 

Well, we found a way to combine these three together!  Drum roll please ....... we have committed to trying one new recipe every week.  And we asked our very dear friend Ms. Annette to come and experiment wit us.  She and Gary were co-cooks together for all meals at our previous church.  I don't know which is more fun; choosing what we are going to try for next week, actually cooking the food (well, this would be the fun part for Gary and Annette LOL) or just spending time with our friend. No matter - it is a win-win situation for me!    

Last week we had Tuscan Garlic Chicken with Pasta.  

It was scrumptious of course.  

This week we went with Tequila Lime Chicken with Rice Casserole and Refried Black Beans

Gary said he couldn't remember actually buying Tequila (well, since he was 21 anyway).  I don't think I ever have.  How was it you asked?  Well see for yourself.  

Who would have thought those ingredients would cook up like this?  Yum, yum.  And even better is listening to Annette and Gary critique the food.  They discuss the ingredients, cilantro, cumin, tequila, lime.  I will be honest  - they are good at that.  I not so much. It is not uncommon for Gary to make me a 'treat' and when I ask what it is he will say, "what do you taste?"  Really?  I just taste food.  I have trouble isolating specific ingredients.  

Tonight was good; and as you can see in the above picture, Chris was ready to try it.  Although, I will say he surprised all of us and only ate one plateful tonight.  

Rice casserole - lots of cheese.  You can't go wrong with cheese.

The Tequila Lime Chicken  - yes again with cheese!  

And re fried black beans  - not from a can either.  

Yep, we ate good tonight.  And as you can see - we had plenty of food.  We might have to start inviting random people to join us so we don't have leftovers. :)   What's for dinner next week you ask?  You will just have to stay tuned and find out.  But it does promise to be yummy!

When I Get Old

                                                                Notes for When I Get Old

I was sitting here at my desk scrolling through Facebook and Pinterest and just basically amusing myself.  I started thinking about when I got 'older'.  (I can't say when I get old because my family kinda already thinks I am.)

I'm going to take chalk and outline dead people in my driveway.  People in the neighborhood know I don't have any kids hanging around so they won't be expecting me to playing with chalk.  

I'm going to try skating again -- maybe.  I won't tell the girls -- last time I went skating and made the comment about how it wasn't as easy as it used to be I was informed by oldest that if it was hard to put the skates on I probably shouldn't be skating.  I quickly informed her that I had been skating for an hour; I just commented that it wasn't as easy as it used to be.

I'm going to buy a bunch of smoke bombs and light them all at once.  Wont't that be interesting?  I'm hoping someone sees all the smoke and comes to check it out.  

I'm going to go gather up all my other 'older' friends and take them to the playground.  We are going to chase all the little kids off the playground and take it over.  It will be a playground with swings.  I like to swing even if it does make me kinda sick to my stomach.

I'm going to get up real early and hide Easter Eggs in all the yards up and down the street on Easter morning.  How fun would this be?  Perhaps I won't wait until I'm old to do this. Can't you just see how excited this would make kids?  

I'm going to blow bubbles.  Well, I do this already but I'm not going to stop.  I'll just buy myself a bigger bottle of bubbles.

I'm going to buy a clown suit and wear it all day.  I'll make sure that it is my errand day also.  Wouldn't want anyone at Target, the bank or the grocery store miss out on this.  

I'm going to call my kids and ask them stupid questions.  Things like, Do you know where I put the dish that I liked that was Grandma's?  No, not the gold one - I know where it is.  The other one.  Or maybe, I can't get my computer to work.  I've typed in my password and it won't take it and I know it's the right password but it isn't working.  I know what it is - I'm using the one you gave me last week.  I need you to come over here and help me out.  Or this one, I can't get the TV to work with the movie machine thing.  It's time to watch Christmas Vacation and I can't get it to work.  I don't remember which of these 5 remotes you told me I had to use and I've tried them all and now the TV won't even come on.  

Yep, I think I'm gonna have some fun when I get older.  

Being a Mom

Mother's Day is coming up this weekend. It's a time that makes you stop and think about your mother. If you have children, you also think about what it means to be a mother.  

I have five children and I don't know about you but my kids didn't come with any type of instruction manual.  No helpful insights on how to handle sleepless babies, diaper rash, terrible twos, me-me-me. Now most new moms are fortunate enough to have their mom to turn to for advise. If mom isn't close by she is at least a phone call away.  

Not me -- I lost my mom 11 months before my first child was born.  Not only did I not have my mother, I also didn't have a mother-in-law to turn to for advise.  I also was not living near my family so had no one to tell me what to do.  This may have been an advantage because I just winged it. I did what I wanted or felt was right.  I bottle fed my daughter, used cloth diapers (and can't believe now that I did this without having a washer and dryer of my own), gave her table food early on (perhaps as early as 3 months), weaned her from the bottle at nine months.  We made our own rules and she survived.  

Now fast forward two and a half years to my second child.  I had a mother-in-law who loved to give advise, a close friend who was a substitute mother to me, new town, new doctor, new state - but I'm still the same mother.  Hmmm - it seemed to me that what worked for child number one should work for child number two and nineteen months later in a new state with another new doctor and no one around it seemed it should work for child number three.  They all survived and are still alive today.  

Would I have preferred having mom there to call when I wasn't sure what to do?  Oh yes!!!  Definitely!  Did I make mistakes?  No doubt about it. But again -- they are all still alive.  We survived the toddler years, the tween years, the teen years, learning to drive, school issues, planning weddings, adding to 'our' lives with a new step-dad (love you Gary) and even adding two more children to our family.  

What have I learned as a mom?  Take time to spend time with your children - they are gone way to soon. Don't hesitate to set guidelines and stick to them - but remember once in a while rules are made to be broken.  A house doesn't have to be spotless to be clean - you can have spotless windows and dust-free furniture later.  Sometimes having dessert for dinner is all that is needed (or Krispy Kreme doughnuts). Say I love you and say it often - you never know how much time you have together. Take time to play with your children, color in a coloring book, blow bubbles, get out the play dough.  Read to them - books can transport them to other countries.  


I look at my grown children and am amazed and proud of what they have accomplished with their lives.  I see two of them who have become extraordinary mothers. I see adults who are not afraid to follow their dreams, no matter what others may think; they just go for it. I see a 'nothing can stop me' attitude in my son - who went for the job he wanted and was persistent enough that they not only set up an interview but also offered him the job. I see siblings who laugh together and at each other but through it all - they love each other.  

They follow their heart. This is important.  Also, probably even more importantly, they turn to God.  I can't take credit for what they have become but I am proud of each of them and the opportunity I have to be their mother. 

Food For Thought

Most of us go out to eat at times.  Some of us eat out frequently, some not so frequently.  We have a standing date with friends and meet them weekly for dinner.  Our goal this year is to try some place different every week - never repeating a restaurant.

Typically, when we eat out it's a pleasant experience.  Food is good, service is good, company is good.  We always leave a tip and I'm a good tipper.  I've been a server - back when they called us waitresses.  I know how hard they work. Usually the server is going to do their best to be sure that you have good service and everything is going well for you. 

Not only do we like to eat, we like to cruise too.  This is usually a great experience. On one of our cruises however, I did not have that experience.  

Normally on a cruise you get everything you want.  The staff go out of their way to be certain that you have anything you need.  A few years ago, Gary and I went a cruise with another couple.  We used an Italian cruise line. I should have known I was in trouble with our waiter the first night at dinner.  I told him what I wanted to order and he said 'No you don't want that."  

My response was "Yes, I do."  He insisted I didn't and this went on for a while until I finally said "Okay, what do you think I should have?"  I don't remember what he brought me it was good.  Same thing happened the next evening at dinner.  I tried to order something, he told me I didn't want it.  I told him to bring me what he thought I wanted.  

I could not get away from this waiter.  We went to a different dining room for breakfast and he was there.  I tried to order something for breakfast and he told me I didn't want that. I'd go through a buffet bar and there he was telling me what I could or could not have. Now keep in mind, I am dining with three other people.  He had no issue with what they wanted to eat -- just me.  It got to the point where I wouldn't even look at the menu.  I'd sit down and tell him to just bring me whatever he thought it was I wanted to eat that night.  

Not our typical cruise experience.  But I haven't forgotten it either.  The waiter who thought he knew my food preferences better than me.

Now back to the friends we eat with every week.  Last week we were having our dinner.  I'm eating a pasta dish (I just love pasta - should have been Italian).  The guys have finished eating and the server has taken their dishes away.  I have some pasta still on my plate and I had just put a bite in my mouth.  The server comes by and starts to take my plate away!!!  I'm sure there was a look of panic on my face as I couldn't tell her to get her hands off that plate - my mouth was full of food.  Now what gave her the right to decide that I didn't need to eat any more!  I hope Gary didn't leave her a good tip.