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With the spooky season of Halloween upon us, we're sharing one of our favorite Halloween recipe. Mummy Dogs. Super easy to make and yummy to eat, Mummy Dogs are a recipe you can make with your kids. Breya and Jay recorded a Kids Talk, a number of years ago, demonstrating how to make Mummy Dogs for dinner.

Take a few minutes to watch the video. Then, grab your kids, some hot dogs, crescent roll dough, and get to cooking!

Simple Instructions:

• Preheat your oven to 375˚.
• Open the crescent rolls and unroll the pastry onto the cutting board. If you want, pinch the crescent pastry together where they are pre-cut. Using the pizza cutter, cut the pastry into thin strips that you will wrap around the uncooked hot dog.
• Spray your cookie sheet with the non-stick cooking spray to prevent the pastry from sticking to the pan.
• Once you're done wrapping your hot dogs place them on the cookie sheet. Place the cookie sheet in the oven to cook. It should take about 15 minutes for the mummy dogs to bake.
• ​Check on the dogs every couple of minutes. You want the pastry to be a warm, golden brown.

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Here's the thing...Halloween is one of those holidays where you are either okay with it or your not. There really is no fence riding for this one. The choice is, are we doing the whole dress up trick or treat thing or are we not. As believers, we are left with a tough decision. Do we go out participate or do we hide away. As parents, the decision is slightly more intense because now you have to explain your reasons for what you decide to do.

As I thought about all of this, the only real difference was the were choosing to participate in a "sanctified" version of Halloween, while missing out on the opportunity to meet and interact with our neighbors. It wasn't long after that, that I felt that we really needed to think through our approach to Halloween. 

​A number of years ago, while driving home from a work site, I was listening to our local Christian talk radio station. The station was part local churches broadcasting their Sunday sermon, part national teachers and syndicated programming, and part talk radio. That afternoon I was listening to the "talk" portion of the programming. It was a three hour mix of news, culture trends, heart-warming stories, light theological discussion, and encouragement to help you press on in your faith journey with Christ. Sometimes the topics and guest resonated with me and sometimes not so much. But on this particular day, the show featured a segment that dealt with Halloween. There is always this debate on what Christians should  so do when Halloween comes around. They interviewed a local pastor, who shared some practical and helpful ways to engage the world come Halloween night. In listening to him talk about how we have the opportunity to engaging the community in a positive way, helped us redefine our view of Halloween.

I think as believers, we often make a the mistake of turning away from opportunities that could be a chance to connect and engage with our community.  We shut our doors, turn off ours lights, and hide in our homes in our fellowship halls at church, all because we believe that Halloween is evil. Halloween isn't evil...it's just another day on the calendar. Sure there are the accounts of how such a holiday originated and people practiced questionable activities. But think about it, by itself, Halloween is just another day. 

In the years that have followed, we have worked to create a number of fun, Halloween traditions with our kids, while also looking for ways to connect with our neighbors. From trick-or-treating in the neighborhood to creative dinner ideas, movie nights, and costume parties we made Halloween a time of imagination and fun. We focused on family, togetherness, friends, and laughter. And we made a point to meet our neighbors, get know the families in the community, and welcome them into our home.

Halloween can be fun, if you think of it as an opportunity to make memories. Below are a few of the traditions, games, ideas, and fun we have had at Halloween.

We still make Mummy Dogs every year. We also pick up "spooky" pasta; pasta cut like pumpkins, bones, bats, and hats. 

Over the years we have created all sorts of yummy treats and snacks that we have found on Pinterest. There is a small collective of some of our favorites save on our Halloween Idea Board. Just click on the graphic to view.

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Talk to just about any Christian marriage counselor, speaker, or voice of a family-focused ministry and you will hear them say, "Date your spouse." Read just about any marriage book, or marriage focused devotional and again you will come across phrasing like, "Date your spouse." And it's a great idea. We get the reasons and philosophy behind those words. Husbands and wives need to be intentionally working on their relationship, and the date night is one of the ways they often suggest as a tool to do that.
​
But whenever we listen to someone speaking about setting aside regular time to date your spouse, we always feel like we fail in this area. We hear them say things like, 'set aside one or two nights a month,' or 'plan a getaway weekend every couple of months,' or 'you should set aside one night each week to check in and spend time together." And that's great. We love and support those kinds of encouragement, because we would love to do that very thing. But the reality is, with five kids and two jobs, making plans for a regular weekly date night is incredibly difficult. In a larger family nothing is regular.

We don't know about you, but we look forward to the time when we can go out to dinner together on a regular basis. We dream of the day when we can slip away for a romantic weekend. And we can't wait for the season of life when we can just sit down at the end of the day and enjoy being in each others company. However, this is not that season and there is no slipping away anytime in the near future. So while we value the idea and need for the "Date" night, how do you do it while treading water in the ocean of family busyness?

Dating your spouse can be a tough. The dinners out, movie nights, or weekend getaways, are a little more challenging to make happen. But don't give up on the idea. Instead, get a little creative. Dating your spouse doesn't have to be something you do only at night. Date her during the day.

​Take your spouse to lunch. Go for a drive. Go grocery shopping. Catch a matinee. Go for a walk in a local park. Share in the yard work together. Paint a room in your house. Binge watch a favorite TV program. (More ideas on creative dates coming soon in a future post.)

Now we get that not every one has the flexibility in their job or schedule to take their spouse out to lunch or spend a day together, but hear us out. With a little bit of creative planning, you can enjoy a day with your spouse.

If you have freedom to meet your spouse somewhere for lunch, you should definitely take advantage of the flexibility. Plan to meet at a local restaurant during the lunch hour. It's a great way to break up your day and spend time with your wife. And, if you are in a career where lunch meetings are "part of the job," having lunch with your spouse is a great way to avoid the jealousy of you always eating in restaurants. (Wifes, especially busy moms don't always get the opportunities to have good food and conversation with other adults. So this could be a big win for both of you.)
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If you don't have the freedom to go out to lunch, schedule 'a come in for lunch.' For a while, Jay worked a job that gave me only a 30 minute lunch break. On top of that, he wasn't able to go out, or away from the workplace. In this situation do lunch a little differently. On a number of occasions Amy brought Jay lunch and we shared it in our car. Yeah, it might not be the best way to do it, but it worked.

The freedom in how you do dating is there for you. Whatever your situation, why not try to schedule a couple mid-day dates with your spouse. Whether you meet at a restaurant, pack a lunch, run errands or head home for a bit, discover the value and gift in the mid-day dating. It really is a great alternative to the busy schedules that prevent the traditional night out date. The point is, be intentional in spending time with your spouse. 

- jay & amy

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Even in a good marriage there are up's and downs. You have good days and bad days. You experience tremendous joys and agonizing hurts. There are wins and those wins are awesome. Then there are the losses, and those loses can be devastating. Throw in financial struggles, issues with children, jobs and careers, temptations and failures, and you can see why some marriages come to an end.

We have had a good marriage. The blessings are countless. The troubles, few and far between. We have had Godly men and woman, husbands and wives, who have mentored and cared for us. We have had pastors and their wives befriend and speak into our lives, our marriage and our family. We have been married for 27 years, and in full-time ministry for 25 of those years. And, we have continued to see God hand of grace and blessing throughout our marriage.

​That's not to say that we haven't experienced our lows. We have experienced financial struggles. We have relocated a number of times, asking our kids to say goodbye to friends, begin new schools, and start all over again. In 2013 we learned we were pregnant with number 6. We were thrilled, surprised, but thrilled. Then we lost number 6. We were heartbroken. But then there was number 7. Then we lost number 7. Then number 8, 9 and 10. We lost each one, with number 10 being a still born delivery at 18 weeks. That's 5 miscarriages in 4 years. Through it all, we've learned just how important it is to pray for and with each other.

Early in our marriage, we were introduced to the books, The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power fo a Praying Husband, by Stormie Omartian. These two books became instant tools as we learned the importance of praying for each other. I (Jay) still pull out The Power of a Praying Husband, every couple of months or so, just to be reminded and refocused to be in prayer for Amy. We recommend these books to couples that we do pre-marital counseling with, suggest them to friends and couples, and consider them to be a truly amazing way to begin the practice of praying for your spouse!

Now, let's be honest, we are not saying we are perfect. We're not. As much as I would love to say that we pray together every morning and every night, and pray over every little matter, question, doubt, fear, and situation we don't. But, we do pray. And, we pray a lot.

Prayer is a significant part of our marriage; one of the foundational building blocks. Over the years we have developed better habits of prayer, both as individuals for each other and as a couple with each other

And that's the key. Prayer is a habit, something that you develop over time with practice. It's making the commitment to pray. Pray as a husband. Pray as a wife. Pray as a couple. Develop the habit of prayer with short simple prayers and watch the discipline of prayer become part of your life and your marriage.

We want to encourage you to practice the habit of praying for and with each other. Start by ordering the books, The Power of a Praying Wife and The Power of A Praying Husband. With each chapter covering another aspect of your spouse to pray for, you can read a chapter a day with as part of your daily quiet time. At the end of each chapter, Stormie provides a prayer that you can pray over your spouse. Like we said, a great tool to use to develop your habit of prayer.

​- the higham family

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A little over a month ago, we announced the release of Jay's newest children's book, Pumpkins. Pumpkins. Pumpkins. This is the fourth book that Jay has written for children. 

When putting together books for children, Jay tries to create books that are easy to read and easy to remember. In Pumpkins. Pumpkins. Pumpkins. Jay used large, color illustrations. Easy to see, but even more fun to interact with. If you are reading this book to your child or grand-child, take a minute to count the pumpkins, point to the different colors,  laugh at the silly faces. As your child learns to read, Pumpkins. Pumpkins. Pumpkins. is a great book to help young readers as they practice their reading skills. 

These shirts won't last forever, so don't wait to order and miss your opportunity to own. Click on the tees above and you will be taken to our tee shop, www.JustDuckyTees. Your tee will be printed and shipped directly to you!

If you would like to order a regular copy of Pumpkins. Pumpkins. Pumpkins, you can still do so through our partnership with Amazon. Pumpkins. Pumpkins. Pumpkins. is available as a soft cover book and a digital ebook on Kindle. You can click on the book covers below. The links take you directly to the Amazon page where you can order your copy of Pumpkins. Pumpkins. Pumpkins. But remember, books ordered through Amazon are not autographed.  

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