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Joel Embiid’s season over due to left knee injury

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Central Pa. woman pleads to conspiring in murder of woman found in shed

<p>&#8220;OK, it&#8217;s time for an afternoon nap. Let&#8217;s settle down and be as quiet as possible,&#8221; I told my little ones.</p><p>&#8220;Mom, may we sleep with you today?&#8221; they want to know.</p><p>&#8220;Sure!&#8221;</p><p>So with that, Julia, 5, Austin, 2, and I all snuggle into our queen-sized bed.</p><p>After everyone is tucked in Austin informed me of his need to go potty.</p><p>&#8220;Again?&#8221; I wonder, but then if I wait what if it will be too late by the end of the nap? All right, let&#8217;s go. Soon he&#8217;s tucked in once more. Let&#8217;s be nice and quiet and go to sleep I instructed.</p><p>Only a few minutes passed when Julia let out a little giggle.</p><p>&#8220;What&#8217;s up?&#8221; I ask.</p><p>&#8220;Austin wanted to hold my hand to fall asleep. I don&#8217;t care if he does that, but now he is poking my nose,&#8221; she explains.</p><p>&#8220;Austin, you&#8217;ll need to let big sissy go so she can fall asleep, hold nice and still now.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;OK, Mom.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Kerchoo! Kerchoo!&#8221; This time it&#8217;s Julia.</p><p>&#8220;Are you starting to get a cold?&#8221; I ask, grabbing a tissue and handing it to her. &#8220;I&#8217;ll give you a good dose of Vitamin C once you&#8217;ve had your nap, that&#8217;ll snap you right out.&#8221;</p><p>I&#8217;m just dozing off when Austin decides he doesn&#8217;t want a blanket and kicks off his covers, jolting me out of dreamland. My sleep is gone for the day. I&#8217;m wide awake. I really hadn&#8217;t gotten a lot of sleep the night before. Why hadn&#8217;t I thought of it that Austin never does fall asleep snuggled in a blanket.</p><p>Half an hour later they are both finally sound out. As I look at their peaceful slumber I praise God for them and ask Him to bless their little lives and bless me with large portions of patience in times of need.</p><p>Austin will likely be the first to wake. After rocking with Mama and having her sing to him he&#8217;ll barely be able to wait until he is permitted to go wake up &#8220;big sissy.&#8221; And as soon as permission is granted he&#8217;ll barrel in and say in a sweet baby voice and croon over his big sister saying: &#8220;Julia, tset fu uh &#8212; vecku!&#8221; (Time to wake up!) Soon I&#8217;ll have two little helpers eager to assist me with making supper before Dad bikes home from work or perhaps even help whip up a batch of his favorite molasses cookies with frosting. As you may remember Daniel likes his caramel frosting.</p><p>Ah, my dear family. I dearly love them but I can&#8217;t help but think of those less fortunate. How about those living on the streets or those who have simply never had an opportunity to be loved? Daniel and I have a yearning to reach out to some of those children by foster or adoption. Only God knows exactly what our future holds, we don&#8217;t have any specific plans although we do have a deep burden for those who need someone to love or care for them.</p><p>Here is my husband&#8217;s prized molasses cookies recipe. His grandma made countless batches of these liberally sharing with her grandchildren who stopped by. For an extra twist, add 1/4 or 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper to the following cookie recipe.</p><p><strong>GRANDMA&#8217;S MOLASSES CRINKLE COOKIES</strong></p><p>3/4 cup butter</p><p>1 cup brown sugar</p><p>1 egg</p><p>1/4 cup sorghum or molasses</p><p>1/2 teaspoon salt</p><p>2 teaspoons baking soda dissolved in 1 /4 cup water</p><p>1/2 teaspoon baking powder</p><p>1 teaspoon cinnamon</p><p>1/2 teaspoon ginger</p><p>1/2 teaspoon ground cloves</p><p>2 1/4 cups flour</p><p>Cream together butter and sugar. Add egg and sorghum. Blend together well. Add dry ingredients. Mix well. Put half cup white sugar in a bowl and roll cookies in sugar. (Rolling in sugar is optional. I don&#8217;t just to cut down on sugar intake.) Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 10-12 minutes. Don&#8217;t overbake. After cooled, put together sandwich style with frosting in the middle. When storing and stacking these cookies on top of one another line with wax paper to prevent them sticking together. These cookies freeze very well.</p><p>Yield: 4 dozen single cookies or two dozen sandwich cookies. You can either eat these cookies by themselves or make them into &#8220;sandwich cookies&#8221; with a layer of frosting between.</p><p><strong>CARAMEL FROSTING</strong></p><p>1/2 cup butter</p><p>1 cup brown sugar</p><p>1/4 teaspoon salt</p><p>1/4 cup milk</p><p>Powdered sugar</p><p>Stir butter and sugar over medium. Boil two minutes. Add milk and bring to a boil. Cool slightly. Add powdered sugar to desired consistency.</p><style>
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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_AmishCook365logocol-1.jpg">
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<div class="neCaption">Molasses Crinkle Sandwich Cookies are Daniel&#8217;s favorite. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/web1_Amishmolassescookiespiccol-1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Molasses Crinkle Sandwich Cookies are Daniel&#8217;s favorite. </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photo </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>Gloria Yoder</p><p>The Amish Cook</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Readers with culinary or cultural questions or stories can write Gloria directly at Gloria Yoder, 10568 E. 350th Ave., Flat Rock, IL 62427-2019. To see more on the Amish go to www.amish365.com.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Patience at nap time yields a good rest