Baby’s Day Out is a hilarious movie that I know your whole family will enjoy. It’s a movie that will make you laugh pretty much through the whole thing, and it definitely makes my family laugh a lot! Baby’s Day Out is a movie that you just can’t forget. It is that funny and entertaining. So you really should give it a try and see what you think.

CD: Keith Urban Days Go By

Keith Urban Days Go By is another great CD to listen to. My whole family also enjoys this too. We all listen to it and end up singing along with all of the songs and it just makes it so much fun. It really is a blast. You should definitely all try it sometime!

BUT

One of the amazing things about November is that it’s a month full of tasty warm foods that welcome you into the house on those chilly days. A family favorite that we’ve grown up with and is probably one of the simplest desserts you could ever make (seriously — it comes from a cook book for children) is our Apple Crisp recipe. Try it. It’s easy and quick and oh-so-tasty. You’ll love it forever and for always just like we do. This traditional Sinclair dessert rather redeems the early to darken nights and chilly wind that starts to blow.

And now for the “How To” to make this scrumptious goodness:

Step One
spread 6 cups sliced and pared apples in 9″x13″ pan
(Not sure what all these fancy baking words mean? It’s okay — I don’t either. It’s just an uppity way of saying to peel and cut the apples.)

Step Two
sprinkle apples with the following:
3/8 cup (small half cup) water
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt

Step Three
with pastry blender, mix the following ingredients until crumbly:
1 1/2 cup sugar
1 1/8 cup flour
1/2 cup butter

Step Four
spread crumb mixture over apples

Step Five
bake, uncovered for about 40 minutes (until sides are bubbly and crumb mixture is a bit golden)

Step Six
consume warm apple crisp all by it’s goodness self
or
consume with whip cream
or
consume with vanilla ice cream
or a personal favorite
consume for breakfast the next morning

Try it.

2 cups unsifted flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup oil
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 cup brewed coffee
1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
2 1/2 cups sliced and peeled apples
1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Mix dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Stir in wet ingredients and blend. Then stir in apples and nuts. Pour into a greased and floured 9-inch tube pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 60 minutes.

I had my sister Camilla make this cake for breakfast one morning (she decided to bake it the night before because of the hour long bake) while Mom is away and Dad loved the cake! It was the first time any of us had made this particular recipe and it turned out really well. I hope you enjoy this easy recipe!

This is a picture of some of the family while doing our appreciation tradition.

I quickly responded to the email by writing: i want to write about birthday appreciation. it’s the best. and i’ll actually do it. i won’t forget & i won’t stop & then drop it. i promise.

So I’m here to not only show that I can complete projects now and then by posting here, but to tell you about one of my favorite things in the whole world: Birthday Appreciation.

It’s probably the simplest tradition you could ever come up. What does it require?

A birthday.
Two people at minimum — any number at max.
And words. This requires words. And it requires thought.

And this is how it works:

The family (whoever is present) gathers to celebrate a birthday. Somewhere along the line (before the meal, after the meal, before cake, after cake, before presents — whatever) we stop for a few minutes and everyone in the family — no matter your age — is asked to share something they appreciate about the birthday person. Little Jack-a-boo always mumbles something (usually what older brother Gabriel said) about how he appreciates that you play with him, read books, buy him candy while older siblings/parents share about different character qualities, different aspects of who you are, what you do, that bless them.

It has got to be the one thing that I hated so much when I was younger (I felt awkward receiving accolades and I felt awkward vocalizing love and appreciation towards others), but is one of my favorite things now. I love it because of the blessing it is… this speaking words of edification and words that will build up a loved one. And I love it because at a young age I was required to start speaking the awkward — purpose to encourage with my words. For some, like me, it doesn’t come naturally. But it’s a God thing.

“Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.” — Ephesians 4:29

Picture of family at the annual local Independence Day parade– a much-loved family tradition!

Mom’s been writing her thoughts on this over in the Titus 2 corner. And what great, impacting thoughts. And how totally contrary to what we learn from the culture around us. Love children? Value them? Speak well of them? Nurture them? Sacrifice for them? Do anything other than endure them?

No, loving children is not the popular message. All the way from Roe vs. Wade, to the casual complaints heard towards the end of August when moms are wishing those yellow buses would come give them their deserved break from the little tyrants, there’s a message we hear loud and clear: It’s all about you, and certainly not about them.

That’s not the Bible’s message. At all.

For some, loving children seems to be one of those natural talents. Babies settle in their arms, kids flock to them, they are the most sought-after babysitters. For others of us (like me!), sitting in a nursery of toddlers for over an hour can be a totally overwhelming proposition. I’m not good with kids! Trust me, I’ve had the thought, too.

But regardless of your natural abilities to charm people of 3-ft stature, we must all learn to love children.

Given how much we have going against us culturally, certainly the best time to start learning that is now, whether you’re a teenager, single adult, or have four children already! And certainly the best way to start learning that is to simply start loving the children you encounter.

No one gets off the hook with a cold, aloof, (half-scared, come on, admit it), “Uh, kids just aren’t my thing.” And as the Word of God seeps into our hearts, transforming the way we think about people in general, we’ll be amazed by how suddenly, these running, falling, tripping, laughing, runny-nosed kids look like seeds of promise. Like destiny waiting for investment. Like an entire future of potential that you could possibly help to bring about.

How? By speaking to them as though they’re people. By telling their mother how blessed she is. By freely giving a gentle touch as they pass by. By counting them worthy of your sacrifice of time (because they are.) By telling them, and reminding yourself, that God made them.

I know, personally, that as I let truth wash over me as a young single woman, I was amazed by how shallow my love for children had been — and how life-changingly deep God wanted it to become. I never became a natural at doing nursery, but I knew it was a privilege. Babysitting, to this day, makes me a tad nervous, but there are few other opportunities that excite me to the possibility of being used by the Holy Spirit. Some days, after meditating on the blessing of children, I find my heart ready to burst into tears at the playground as I watch so many babies and toddlers and young children running and playing, and — and do they know the Lord? Because they need to!

I guess what I most want to communicate is that sometimes we need to be willing to learn to love children. (And if an older woman is supposed to teach us, then obviously we’re supposed to be learning.) You know how God loves the whole world, but He also loves you? Well, I think that’s what God wants us to learn about loving children. It’s wonderful to be moved by the idea of helping children the world over, but He also wants me to love the toddler at church whose behavior is a little…well. He wants me to “go out of my way to cherish every person I encounter, and to be the strongest voice of enthusiasm to every newly-pregnant mom I meet — regardless of how many they already have, how young their previous is, and how much their husband brings home.” (I wrote a bit about this theme last year: being pro-life starts with valuing life.)

Certainly we’ve all heard stories about how a life was forever impacted by one woman’s kindness. I want to be used by God as that woman. I want to stand out in a baby-killing, family-hating, child-despising world as a minister of love and life. And I don’t want to just be a bit better; I want to have the heart of God.

Really good.

I’ve made it a handful of times for birthdays and special occasions and it has met with rave reviews here among us Sinclairs.

If you like coffee and chocolate, you will love this.

Chances are, even if you don’t like coffee but you like chocolate and those fluffy drinks sold at most coffee shops, you’ll like this. It’s so delicious.

Crust
1c chocolate sandwich cookie crumbs
2T butter, melted

Mix crumbs and butter; press onto bottom of 9″ springform pan. Bake @ 325* for 10 minutes if using a silver springform pan. (Bake at 300* for 10 minutes if using a dark nonstick springform pan.)

Filling
4 pkg. (8 oz. each) cream cheese, softened
1c sugar
1T vanilla
4 eggs
3T milk
3T instant coffee
1T warm water

Mix cream cheese, sugar and vanilla with electric mixer on medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, mixing on low speed just until blended. Reserve 1-1/2c of the batter. Stir instant coffee into warm water until dissolved. Add remaining batter, mix well. Pour over crust. Stir milk into reserved batter; pour gently over coffee batter.

Bake @ 325* for 65 minutes or until center is almost set if using a silver springform pan. (Bake @ 300* for 65 minutes or until center is almost set if using a dark nonstick springform pan.) Run knife or metal spatula around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing from pan. Refrigerate 4 hours or overnight.

Top with whipped cream (preferably homemade) and ENJOY!