March Madness Reading Contest

Katelyn called me last night with the results of the March Madness Reading Contest at her school.

She was so excited to say that she placed in Category 2. Category 1 were the top three winners, who read 6,000 pages or more in the month! WOW!  Katelyn read nine books for right around 3,000 pages - in a month!!! All of this reading in addition to her academic load! BRAVO!!! She really loves reading the Maze Running series. She loves mystery and action.

Her prizes - now THIS was exciting for her!!

* a free snack at break - a mini-meal from the cafe

* a free dress day - a day where she doesn't need to wear school uniform

* a free ice cream treat at lunch

and - drum roll please ----

* a free In 'n Out lunch! -- gotta LOVE it!!! (closest thing to that here in Kansas is Five Guys)

So proud of you, Sweetie! Keep up the good work!

MCC Run for Relief

Today was the MCC (Mennonite Central Committee) Run for Relief - 5K Walk/Run. Brett, Esther, Moira, Audrey, Isabel, Maeve and I joined about 300 other participants in this great fundraiser.  It was a chilly morning - about 38 degrees!!!! A chilly morning made for a fast race. Think we were thinking about getting warm!!!

Personal best:
Brett - 30.28
Esther - 24.32 (she received a medal for 3rd place in her division!)
Moira - 27.05 - (she received a medal for 3rd place in her division!)
Me - walked it in 52.26 - last year I did it in 57.56, so everyone very excited for my time! Guess my walking for exercise (not shopping!) up/down aisles at Wal-Mart have paid off! :)

Audrey and Isabel - don't have their times but they had a great time running together.

Maeve - don't have her time either, most likely under 50 minutes.

Maeve and I ready to roll! We ran together for several yards, hand-in-hand then I told her if she wanted to run ahead she could, just stay on the path. She was off like an arrow! Every once in a while I could see her ahead of me, looking back, then she got so far that she was out of sight until the turn-around. As she began to lag, I'd yell, "hurry if you want to beat me!" She'd take off running again.  Beat Grandma - a strong motivator! HAHA!! Esther came out to run with her about the last half mile and she finished strong. She was very proud to have run her first 5K!

Finished off the morning at the MCC sale where we had Russian pancakes (crepe with cinnamon sugar) and New Year's cookies (really a doughnut ball with raisins).

Great morning! Great memories!

Sunday Afternoon Tea

Last Sunday I hosted an Afternoon Tea for the gals on our Mom2Mom Leadership Team. It was my thank you gift to them for an awesome year of ministry.

I can't say enough about these women! All serve with passion, using their God-given gifts and talents to the max. They are caring, sensitive, creative, wise, beautiful, Godly women!

It was so fun to use wedding gift silver, my mother's silverware, napkins, depression glass platter, and American Fostoria. She was truly on my heart this day! The menu consisted of egg salad sandwiches on flower cut-out bread, chicken salad sandwiches on heart cut-out bread, cucumber sandwiches on tea cup cut-out bread, blueberry-orange and cherry-almond scones, lemon curd and strawberry jam, and fresh fruit salad. Of course a tea is not complete without sweets so there were chocolate covered strawberries, sugar cookies and brownies cut in heart, butterfly, flower and tea cup shapes. Oh, yes, tea and coffee too! It was such fun for me to prepare new and old recipes!

Mary Ellen, Deb, Debby, Marilyn, Janice, and Helen.

Ellen, Debbie, and Rosemary. MyrtleLoy joined us later. We have five other gals on the team, but schedule conflicts didn't allow them to come. It's so hard to get everyone together, so we just had to go with this group. Most of us are also in Bible study together, so our roots go deep!

I have stepped down from this ministry as Rich and I contemplate a return move to California. Nothing is for certain, but I needed time in my life as Rich and I pray and research our options. M2M has given me a real purpose in our time here. It's a place where I have experienced considerable personal growth as I used the gifts and talents God has given to me. It is bittersweet to step away, to be sure.

Pray for M2M as the team seeks new leadership. Pray for Rich and me as we seek God's direction.

Katelyn!!

Probably the most exciting day in the life of a young teenager is the day they turn 13. March 15 was that happy day for Katelyn. Of course we remembered her birthday but my head just hasn't been in the blogging mode since the first of year, so alas, no "happy birthday blog" was written for her.  So very sorry about that, sweet girl. So here and now I want to share some things about this lovely 13-year old granddaughter!!!

I had the honor of being present when she was born!!! What a thrill to welcome this precious grandchild into our family! So thanks go to Jeff and Caroline for that privilege!

This vivacious young woman is now a seventh grade student at Oaks Middle School. She joins her dad who teaches at the Oaks High School and older sisters who are also students there, as well as her mom who works part-time on campus. It was great fun to join her there on Grandparents' Day last November. In addition to her academic classes she also is in dance, which is a great fit for her. She has taken gymnastics classes for several years so being on the middle school dance team is a good fit for her.

In February, Katelyn and her mom joined other students and staff members on a short-term mission trip to Guatemala. This was to follow-up on work done by a team that went there last year. Their work included building a playground and table and chairs at a hospital. They also did the very practical work of cleaning patient rooms and bathrooms there. They spent time at an orphanage, where in addition to playing with the children, which they really enjoyed, they painted a mural and made a garden. With a little sight-seeing, it was a very busy week of service and an awesome cultural experience.

This little gal is quite a cook and baker! My earliest memory of her cooking is when she must have been 6-7 years old. She had pushed a chair to the stovetop so she could stand on it to stir a pot! It scare "the wits" out of me. I was so afraid she'd get burned. I should have known better. She was perfectly in control and hasn't stopped (without the chair, of coure!). On a recent visit there we had "Kate's pasta" for dinner one night, a tasty dish of penne pasta with Italian sausage-spicy, of course, and yummy sauce. She makes a delicious turtle pie, also!  YUMMO!!

And yes, you can wear a sleeveless top while hanging Christmas lights - in California!! :)

Katelyn, you are well-loved!!!  It will be exciting to watch you grow into a Godly woman.

Love you, Sweetie!!!

Happy Birthday Esther!

Celebrating another year in the life of our dear daughter-in-love, Esther!!! Happy birthday dear one.

This past year Esther has been recognized professionally as a semi-finalist in competition for the Kansas State Teacher of the Year as well as by her colleagues at Cloud Elementary for her work with GirlsOnTheRunWichita.  We recognize her as the wonderful and loving wife to Brett and the marvelous mother to our granddaughters Moira, Audrey, Isabel, and Maeve. We are blessed beyond words to have dear Esther in our family and lives.

We love you Esther!

Happy Birthday Renee!

A Valentine's Day birthday! What could be more perfect for this dear daughter-in-love! Not that any of us had anything to do with it! HAHAHA!!

Renee has been in our lives since Christmas 2006 - when Jeremy brought her here to meet the family at Christmas. We knew then "she was the one" for our son.

Among Renee's attributes are a spunky personality, a strong value system, and a great "business" mind, but greater than all of that is that she's a Godly wife to Jeremy and a Godly mommy to Maddie. Together they are a precious family. To me - she's a Friend! The Dewey family is blessed to have her on our family tree!

"Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love. This is how God showed his love among us; He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him. This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." - 1 John 4:7-10

Renee, thanks for giving your love to all of us! We're so glad you are in our family and in God's family!

Blessings!

Truffles!!

Truffles!

Decadent, creamy, melt-in-your-mouth, chocolatey goodness!

Brett, Moira, Audrey, and Isabel came to try out a recipe for truffles. If successful, they would make them again in a few weeks for the dessert auction at their church. This great activity is a scholarship fundraiser for the college students of Hope Mennonite. Over the years they have raised thousands of dollars!

The auction is held on Super Bowl Sunday. Bidding takes place during the fellowship time between church and Sunday school. After Sunday school is over, bids are finalized and the lucky bidders have delicious desserts to take to their Super Bowl parties. We think it is a fabulous idea for a wonderful cause!

It's so much fun to cook and experiment together!

Brett had seven different ingredients for coating the truffles, toasted coconut, chopped pecans, chopped pistachios, cocoa powder, diced Andes peppermint chips, diced Andes mint chips, chocolate sprinkles, and a milk chocolate for dipping. All received rave reviews except the cocoa powder, which was too bitter for Dewey palates.

It took all of five minutes to bring the cream to simmer, add the butter cubes and stir in chocolate chips. It had to chill in refrigerator at least two hours. Brett went back home to work out so he could justify sampling. :) The girls stayed for a game of Spoons and then went back home to finish their Saturday cleaning.

After the chocolate had chilled, Brett scooped it into balls, using the small end of a melon baller. The girls rolled the truffles in the coatings and placed in mini candy papers. With all of them working together, it went very smoothly and quickly. Then the really fun part began - the sampling! They agreed that the nuts, coconut, mints, and the dipping chocolate were coatings of choice. Next job? What will they name their dessert? Maybe Dewey Delights.

So how to present? This was an idea, using one of my plates. A nice plate with three rows of six truffles, all tied up in cellophane and ribbon. Brett thought he would prepare two plates, one for each Super Bowl team, tied with ribbon in team colors. So how much would you bid???  I bet this will go for at least $50!

Recipe (which he got from allrecipes.com).

Truffles
1/3 cup heavy cream
6 tablespoons butter, cut in cubes
1-3/4 cups 60% Ghiradelli chocolate chips

In a medium saucepan, bring cream to a simmer. Add butter to melt. Stir in chocolate until melted. Put in shallow dish and cover. Refrigerate at least 2 hours. Scoop with melon baller and roll in coatings of choice.

Our note: This is a rich, very dark chocolate. You may want to mix in some semi-sweet chocolate chips to offset the bitter chocolate.