Fine Arts Festival - June 11th & June 12th, 2011

After my "book writing" hiatus I came to realize that God had other plans for me. First with Bible Study Fellowship, and if you need a Bible Study, I HIGHLY recommend this route - you will be bathed in The Word! www.bsfinternational.org

And as I continued following His direction and clear leading I am where I am today, heading up a greeting card ministry: ElephantEnk, Cards of Faith & Hope.

Boy is Our Lord good, very good! So with this, I cordially invite you to my very first fine arts festival where I am an exhibitor. I'd love for you to come but either way I really need YOUR PRAYERS. Please pray that the cards I create, at this art show, are just the ones the Lord wants me to provide & that they share the truth of God's love, mercy & justice effectively.

Please pray that anyone I meet, who is unsaved, is open to hearing the gospel & that I joyously & loving share truth of Jesus Christ with them ...

Thank you dear friends! Love in Christ ~ Diana

I am thrilled to share the news of my very first fine arts festival where I am an exhibitor! PLEASE COME & DO BRING FRIENDS! Details: Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg will be hosting its first Fine Art & Crafts Festival on Saturday, June 11th & Sunday, June 12th in the church lobby at 8900 US Highway 19 North, Pinellas Park, Florida 33782. Festival hours are on Saturday, June 11th from 3pm to 8:30pm and on Sunday, June 12th from 8am to 2pm. Local artists will be exhibiting and selling their original art work including photography, jewelry, painting, sculpture and much more. The festival is free and so is the parking. http://calvarystp.org/

Motherhood = Leadership

To be a leader we must first realize what it means to become a servant to others.
~Pat W.


This is beautiful quote I heard today and one I plan to work on personally ... it reminded me so much of motherhood. I know if we all tried this with one another the world would be a much better place ...

Holiday Olives

This is an easy and beautiful dish, both to the eye and the palate, for the holidays!

Here's all you need to get started:

2 - 8oz. pkg neufchatel cheese (found next to cream cheese)
1 - 10 oz. jar queen olives (if you have a Publix supermarket, get Publix brand)
1 bag of pecan meal (found in produce section)

Drain olive juice & put olives in a large shallow bowl, allow time for the olives to dry.
Open both packages of neufchatel cheese and unwrap the cheese so it is easily accessible to your fingers.
By hand take a clump of cheese and form a ball around each olive & then set each one aside on a plate.
After you have made olive balls using all of the olives, then take each “olive ball” & roll it in pecan meal & place on a large dish.
Cover dish with saran wrap & place in the refrigerator overnight.
Cut olive balls in half for final presentation on a pretty dish.
(Helpful tip: I usually cut each in 1/2 right before serving.)

Voila! Oh and don't say I didn't warn you ... if you love olives (like me) make a few extra because you WILL eat a few ... they are crazy addicting!

Enjoy and have a very merry Christmas!

ONE CHILD FAMILY

As of late, it has come to my attention that families with one child often come under attack and criticism by families with more than one child. Humorous comments depicting a one-child-household as being less busy, easier or less troubled can be very unintentionally hurtful and unfounded.

Folks, I am trying to get all of us to think "outside of the box" a bit and to ask ourselves a few deeper questions here.

Do we know if this one-child family:

~ Wanted more children and tried but had numerous heartbreaking miscarriages?

~ This one child is so high energy a child that even considering another sibling would have caused the marriage to dissolve?

~ The parents regret their not having more children and now it is too late; Making any criticism even more painful?


I genuinely believe friends and family members don't mean their comments to be hurtful to that one child family ... but do unto others is something we learn from childhood.

Before you criticize someone, walk a mile in his shoes ...

"We cannot hold a torch to light another's path without illuminating our own." -- Ben Sweetland

Thank you

Thank you for visiting, I am still on hiatus, but the book I am writing is almost complete! I am so excited, it is based on a true story about my beloved nine-pound ShihTzu who defied all possibilities of survival.

God Bless!

Thank you

I am writing a non-fiction pet story right now so I must take a little hiatus from this blog site. If you have a funny mom story please send it to me and I will post it on here!

Thank you!
Diana


DKrause1@tampabay.rr.com

The Power Of A Positive Mom ...

Never underestimate the power of being positive ... this book has gotten some very good reviews. It's always nice to have a few reminders on hand when parenting ... I am ordering mine today! (click here for Amazon purchase information)

Solid Principles Encourage Moms
As a mom to four kids, ages 9 to 22, I encourage all mothers to buy this book. Karol's principles of encouragement, prayer, a good attitude, and several others offer sound advice framed around engaging stories and very practical examples. I just wish I had it sooner!

by Janet H. McHenry

Great Reminder While nothing in the book was a huge revelation ("your kids model themselves after you," "take care of yourself," "take care of your marriage," etc.), it was all a good reminder -- and it was nice to have the Biblical citations to back up the principles. Ladd is a great writer, making the material very easy and entertaining to read. Published 21 months ago by Lois Lain

Weekend Reflection ...

I am bountifully supplied ...

" The Lord will indeed give what is good, and our land will yield its harvest." Psalms 85:12 NIV

Today I recognize the abundance of Life. I give thanks to all that is good and flowing to me in an ever-increasing supply.

The "Rut" in Cataloochee, NC

(Click on photos to enlarge)





What a phenomenal trip our family was able to experience and only 45 minutes from our cabin here in Dillsboro, NC! Our five-year-old son, Gannon, now has this experience of a lifetime - watching the male elk bugle and exhibit their dominance, challenging other males, & also attracting the female cows ... click here to listen those same bugling sound that we heard!
In Cataloochee, NC (located in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park) we were able to view up close, and personal, this ritual that takes place each and every season. We also learned that the fastest growing tissue, in the entire world, belongs to the male elk & is it's antlers. In March the male's shed their gigantic rack (adult males have antlers that may reach a width of five feet) but by August of each year the antlers will regrow entirely!

We were fortunate enough to view a 'harem' of cows following these male bulls and also lucky enough to observe the actual sparring of two males - smashing antlers to antlers - fighting for dominance!!! We highly recommend this outing ... it is something you and your family will remember forever, plus it wasn't very crowded in the park at all! Let me put it this way, it's much less crowded than Disney and this is a REAL life experience -vs- one of fiction!



Elk Facts

FALL: male elk make their legendary bugling calls to challenge other bulls and attract cows. Their calls may be heard a mile or more away. Large bulls use their antlers to intimidate and spar with other males. Most encounters are ritualistic and involve little physical contact; only occasionally do conflicts result in serious injuries to one or more combatants. During the "rut" in September and early October, dominant bulls gather and breed with harems of up to 20 cows.

SIZE: adult males weigh an average of 600-700 pounds. Cows average 500 pounds. Adults are 7-10 feet long from nose to tail and stand 4.5 - 5 feet tall at the shoulder. Adult males have antlers that may reach a width of five feet.

OFFSPRING: cows usually give birth to only one calf per year. Newborns weigh about 35 pounds. They can stand within minutes of birth and calf and cow usually rejoin the herd within a couple of weeks. Calves nurse for 1-7 months. Females are ready to breed in the second autumn of their lives.

Most of the elk are located in the Cataloochee area in the southeastern section of the park. The easiest way to reach Cataloochee is from Interstate highway I-40. Exit I-40 at North Carolina exit #20. After 0.2 mile, turn right onto Cove Creek Road and follow signs 11 miles into Cataloochee valley. Allow at least 45 minutes to reach the valley once you exit I-40.

For more detailed info. click here. (NPS - Smoky Mountains National Park)

Click here for wilkipedia info. on the elks & the rut.

photo credit of single, large male elk ... http://www.outdoorphotographer.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=2625&p=10122

Lean Times? ... Magnificent Meal at a Great Price!

This is a super easy dish to make, inexpensive, fast and delicious ...

You'll need:
4 LBS (bone in, skin on) chicken breasts, thighs, etc ...
1 can - 10 3/4oz cream of mushroom soup (2 cans if you want a lot of gravy like I do)
1/2 pkt - Lipton's Onion Soup mix (1 pkt. if you opt for a lot of gravy & use 2 cans of the cream of mushroom soup)
olive oil or canola oil
aluminum foil
(for a leaner dish you can use boneless, skinless chicken but it will not taste as good; I always remove the skin before serving the final dish. You can also substitute the Healthy Choices Lipton Cream of Mushroom condensed soup w/ lower sodium & 98% fat free.)

-Line a large baking dish with olive or canola oil
-rinse chicken and pat dry
-place chicken in the baking dish
-broil, until chicken is browned, about 10 minutes
-take baking dish out and now add the condensed cream of mushroom soup on top, brushing it over all the chicken with a spatula
-now sprinkle the Lipton Onion Soup mix on top (so it sticks to the mushroom soup) and brush this around

Cover with foil and bake at 400℉ for 1 hr. 10 minutes.
Remove chicken skin before serving; the gravy is delicious for placing over mashed potatoes or rice!
Bon Appétit!