Why Do You Cook?

I was just surfing cooking websites and stumbled upon a 37 step recipe for brandy snaps. Honestly, I sat scrolling through the whole recipe thinking: Who takes the time for this mess?
I mean, seriously, I'm sure they're absolutely delicious, but why would I go to so much trouble? Surely if I had a craving for something delectable I could find something like it at my supermarket and spend 5 minutes on the hunt.
Now, my sister loves to bake so she was a bit more sympathetic towards the cooking-as-a-hobby concept, but I really can't fathom it. I cook because I like to eat. I bake because I like to eat sweets.
It's not fun to me.

Do you like to cook or bake?

Book Review: The Connected Child

Most of the books I review, I receive from the publisher for the purpose of reviewing. This book, I picked up from the library and loved it so much, I just had to tell you about it.

This is the absolute best adoption book I've read. It talks a lot about the fear that drives common institutionalized behavior. That is, kids who have been in an orphanage for any amount of time develop fear in the primal part of their brain. Fear of going hungry (which leads to food hording and hiding), fear of punishment or abuse (which leads to lying), fear of loud noises or sights (caused by staring at a white ceiling for hours on end in an orphanage crib). These fears cause their logical brain to shut down, resulting in behavior that is driven solely by survival instincts.

I had read Beyond Logic, Consequences, and Control (which talks about this same fear-driven behavior), but it had too much psycho-babble thrown in. For instance, it states that when your child lies out of fear, you should reassure them that they are loved and safe and just ignore the lying. Then, hours later when they are calm and non-threatened, you talk to them about why it's wrong to lie. But little ones don't respond well to delayed consequences. It's like coming home to a dog mess and rubbing the dog's nose in it. The poor dog has no idea why he's being punished.

The Connected Child had a better solution. Reassure the child that they are loved and safe, and then give consequences for the misbehavior.

I learned so much from this book and I was so encouraged by it.

I highly recommend it.

Blog Pet Peeves

I just have to get this off my chest. These are my blog pet peeves:

1. Music on blogs. I'm listening to my own music, or the kids are listening to an audio book while I do some blog catching up, or I just really don't like your taste in music. :p Regardless, playlists are a real distraction.
2. LONG blog posts. So you have a lot to say and it's all really great. No problem! Write a multi-part blogpost. Please don't try to say it all at once. It hurts to stare at the screen for that long. So I just don't. (Thus I miss most of what you're saying.)
3. People that blog about their pet peeves. What could be more annoying? Sheesh.

Book Review: A Time to Embrace

I decided I wanted a break from non-fiction for awhile. Karen Kingsbury is one of those few Christian writers who thinks Christian fiction should be more than just clean fiction. I trust her as an author and she didn't let me down. I really enjoyed this book. It deals with forgiveness, trusting in God's sovereignty, and the covenant of marriage. A Time to Embrace is a follow up to A Time to Dance, which I loved but read so long ago, I only vaguely remember the details of it. No matter. This book stands alone.
I was a little irked that all the loose ends are tied up in one perfect bow at the end. Life doesn't always work that way, and more importantly God is glorified whether we receive the answer we wanted or not. But other than that, it was a great read. Not just pleasant, but convicting-- what Christian fiction should be.

I received this book from Thomas Nelson for my honest review.

Big Families & How They Do: Birthdays

Here at Clark Chatter, we do birthdays a little differently. Instead of individual birthdays, we do just 2 birthday parties each year- the Spring Fling and the Fall Fest. These parties are for my children and my sister's children. All the January-June birthdays are celebrated in April; all the July-December birthdays are celebrated in October.

What I love about this is:

1. the grandparents aren't worn out from once a month parties.
2. all the parties take place at a park, which means no cleaning up before or after :D
3. we generally get group gifts, so we always have a membership to the zoo, the nature & science museum, the aquarium, etc.

On the day of the child's birthday, they pick one friend and spend the day with them. One of us, Kyle or I, will take them out to eat at their choice of restaurant and the rest of the day they spend at our house or the park, just playing together. Good quality time but little expense.

If you would like to participate in the Big Families: How They Do It blog carnival, please grab this button and then link back to your blogpost here:

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Annual Growth Contest

It's tradition. It's fierce competition. It's the tall vs. the short. It's emotional.

Julia doesn't understand all the hype. And she's none too excited to take her turn against the wall of terror.
I've been preparing Maya that she might be done growing. Her sweet and loving siblings have been telling her that her days of growing up are nearing their end and from now on she'll just be growing out.

Her fake boo-hooing didn't change the facts. She grew one measly inch in the last 12 months. Poor thing.

She got happy again real quickly after I asked her to help measure Julia. Anything involving JuJu brings a smile to Maya's face.

So here's the lowdown: Isaac won, with 4" of growth. Daniel and Lydia tied for 2nd place. They each grew 3" (which is some kind of record for a biological Clark). Chloe and Elena maintained their petite status, each growing 2".

And although Julia was disqualified for being under age, she blew everyone away with her stats. She more than doubled her height since her utero days a year ago.

Test Yourself

I couldn't think of a better way to start off the Christmas season.

Be blessed,