making fruity pebble treats

A few have asked for the Fruity Pebble Treats recipe. It's easy!

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 5 cups mini marshmallows
• 6 cups Fruity Pebbles

Melt the butter in a saucepan then add in the marshmallows. Stir until the marshmallows are liquid. Add in the Fruity Pebbles, mixing it all together. It's sticky and you must act quickly! I placed mine in cupcake liners so I wouldn't have dishes to clean up, plus they're easier to serve that way. Dip two spoonfuls of the mixture into each cupcake liner and let them set up for maybe 10 minutes or until they cool. That's it! Done! (See a photo)

a shower of purple and green

My sister-in-law is pregnant with my third niece and I was the fortunate gal who helped to throw her baby shower yesterday. (YAY!) Below are some pics of the goodies, if you're looking for any ideas.

I found the wooden words at the Dollar Tree and brought them home for prettyin' up. I painted each one with acrylic paints and touched them with silver accent paint. Since there are three of them, my SIL can choose which of the three girls she wants to have which word.

In the background are favor boxes that I made using a die cut at Memories Galore. It's awesome to be able to purchase cardstock and ribbon at a scrapbooking store and have access to their tools for free! In the boxes are either tootsie rolls or a scented tea light candle. The duck favor boxes were picked up from the Dollar Tree. (I ran out of time to go back to Memories Galore to make more boxes.)

I created single-tier diaper cakes for table centerpieces. Each tier included seven size one diapers and sprigs of silk hydrangeas, all tied up with purple and sage green ribbon and twine.

I must say, the Fruity Pebble Treats were my own pure genius. :) Rice Krispie treats just weren't colorful enough for me. These were a huge hit!

You can't tell it here, but I made purple cupcakes! I used a strawberry cake mix and added blue food coloring to it to make them purple. That's buttercream icing on top and my daughter gave each one a sprinkle for color. Thanks to my dear friend, Jane, for the use of her beautiful cupcake stand!

Photos by Casey Higgins

jump-the-gun anger ::: restraint

Have you ever been so mad that you feel it - this rush of chaotic energy right under the surface looking for a pore to violently rip through? That was me today. It was scary for a minute. I can't recall the last time I was that angry.

My husband came home to find neighborhood kids throwing rocks at my dog. She was tied and couldn't retreat their charge. Over text, I was going ballistic. "I'd beat those kids myself," I punched into my phone. I was outraged. Where are their parents? Why would they think it's okay to bully my sweet black lab? He found her cowering against the door, trying to escape the walnut-sized limestones being hurled at her. Poor, sweet Daisy.

It was just the last straw for my day, that's all. Or, I thought it was the last straw for my day ...

A relationship is sort of being mended, I guess you'd say. The guilty party won't say she's sorry and the victim won't point out the wrong of the guilty. I'm neither person. I see it as perfect timing for a whole laundry list of things that need to be said to finally be said. Alas, it's not my territory.

So my real last straw was that my husband will be child-less most of the day on Father's Day. It wasn't my doing and he says he's fine with it. Guess I shouldn't care then, but I do. He's the one who typically doesn't hold grudges; I'm the one who does. I'm still not over him being wronged and I'm still mad at the person who hurt him. I certainly don't want my kids with her yet; I haven't gotten over the mistreatment. Apologies have not been offered and I don't just "get over" things so quickly.

God has words for me on this matter, but tonight is not a night I want to read them.

---

His "laundry list" of commandments for me is lengthy.

"Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you." -Ephesians 4:31-32

"For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses." -Matthew 6:14-15

"And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses." -Mark 11:25

"And as you wish that others would do to you, so do to them." -Luke 6:31

"Know this, my beloved brothers: let every tongue be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God." - James 1:19-20

---

And that, ladies and gentleman, is a spirit check. It's humbling.

I wish I knew how to let go of this particular anger and angst that has built up in me for so long, and how it is that I can easily forgive anyone but this one. Contrary to what I'm sure is the popular belief, this person claims a great deal of my thoughtlife as I battle what to do, what not to do, how to act, what to say, ponder over actions and reactions, and pray for guidance in forging a successful relationship. Sometimes I feel like this is the one true place that Satan has his toe-hold in my life. This is my button. My trigger. The one topic and person that will send me over the edge. He knows it. I know he knows it.

As TobyMac would say, "Hey Devil, go on! Get yo' junk outta here! I don't need you!"

forever's as far as i'll go

I'll admit I could feel it 
The first time that we touched.
The look in your eyes
Said you felt as much 
But I'm not a man 
Who falls so easily 
It's best that you know
Where you stand with me.

I will give you my heart
Faithful and true
And all the love it can hold
That's all I can do 
But I've thought about 
How long I'll love you
And it's only fair that you know
Forever's as far as I'll go.

When there's age around my eyes 
And gray in your hair
And it only takes a touch to recall 
The love we've shared
I won't take for granted
That you know my love is true
Each night in your arms
I will whisper to you.

I will give you my heart
Faithful and true
And all the love it can hold
That's all I can do 
But I've thought about 
How long I'll love you 
And it's only fair that you know
Forever's as far as I'll go.


- Alabama, 1990


I love you, James. I'm more in love with you today than on that day. You're a blessing.

My Heart,
-Casey

obeying the fifth

It's safe to say that something said more than once must be something worth heeding.

Your mom likely told you more than once not to touch the stove burner because it was hot. Eventually, you touched the burner and realized that yes indeed, burners are hot. It didn't feel nice at all, did it?

Just as your parents only wanted the best for you, God only wants the best for you. "'For I know the plans I have for you,' declares the LORD, 'plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.'" (Jeremiah 29:11) He created you out of love, wants you to experience love, and wants you to give love.

When considering marriage God commanded that "no man should separate" what He has joined together. (Matthew 19:6, Mark 10:9) "No man" would include families, would it not? Families intervening in a marriage is no more permissible than a stranger intervening. In fact, God tells us numerous times that "a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh." (Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4-6, Ephesians 5:31)

Having a parent that attempts to force a wedge between a husband and wife makes it really tough to honor God's fifth commandment, "Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you." (Exodus 20:12) How best can this scenario be handled?

John W. Rittenbaugh notes in The Fifth Commandment, "this commandment falls on the child, but it begins with the parents through child training and example. If parents neither provide the correct example nor teach the correct way, they can hardly expect their children to honor them."

To take a step back, neither my husband nor I would disrespect our parents or each other's parents. However, one reaches a point where a mutual respect from one's parents is expected. Is it okay for a parent to speak condescendingly to her adult child? Hardly. This is where we're struggling.

Lin Burress of Telling It Like It Is suggests that the parent-child relationship is temporary and the marriage relationship is permanent. I recently suggested this to a friend but from a different angle - raising a child is your job and you do the very best you can. However, that child will leave to start his own life one day. Your allegiance, therefore, is to your spouse, as it is he that you chose to spend your life with.

The aforementioned blog also suggests that when the parent-child relationship does not take a backseat to the marriage relationship, the marriage is in serious trouble. Additionally, the husband is to "cleave" to his wife - "closeness that there should be no closer relationship than that between the two spouses, not with any former friend or with any parent."

And so it seems that parents should remain worthy of honor, refraining from clinging to their children and disrupting a marriage. That, along with other honorable attributes, are qualities of real Christians and would make bestowing honor on a parent an unquestionable action.

So as far as our story, we will continue to give respect and pray that our parents are easy to honor. The mere act of child rearing is deserving of honor and respect from the begotten, but when the begotten is a grown man with his own family ... well, perhaps the parent needs to extend a mutual respect to him and his wife if she hopes to maintain a healthy parent-child relationship.

Loving My Husband,
Casey


Notes:

• Please see Loving Our Parents by Dr. Gary Chapman of Conversantlife.com, from which the first image above was borrowed.
• For some humor and points this wife appreciates, see What to Do if Your Mom and Your Wife Don't Get Along by Cory H.
• Also from Ms. Burress, see How to Get Along With the In-Laws: Dealing With In-Laws and Extended Family and How to Be a Good Mother-In-Law.
• The second image was borrowed from Mother in Law Advice (a site for MILs).

same kind of different as me

I used to be an avid reader, but haven't been very dedicated to finding time to do so in recent years. I'm slowly working my way back into it, sneaking a few pages here and there where I can. That is, until a gentleman in a bookstore nudged me to purchase one particular book.

Same Kind of Different As Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together is a book that I nearly refused to put down. It's an amazing true story about a slave in Louisiana and a wealthy Christian family in Texas whose lives become intertwined when God is recognized and allowed to do His work.

You will be stunned to read of a black man who was purposely kept in the dark without an education, working only to pay off the clothes he wore. Denver Moore never collected a paycheck, lived in a shack no bigger than the bed of a pick-up truck, and came to realize that living on the streets, homeless, in Fort Worth, Texas was better than the plantation life he left behind. Learn how a true Christian heart, willing to do God's bidding, can change lives, and a city, for the better.

We should all take notes on how to listen for God, be willing to obey His instructions, and "love like Jesus". Overlook rugged exteriors and get to know the treasures that lie within. Give of yourself as though your life depends on it. It does. Be real Christians ... "Christ-IN's" ... and love unconditionally to bare fruit for the kingdom of God. In doing so, your blessings will be many.

From my heart tonight,
Casey